REPORT FIELD from
the
Tarryall Creek, South Platte R., CO
Michigan Creek, South Platte R., CO
Dolores River, CO
La Jara Basin, CO
Alamosa River, CO
Little Sur River, CA
Estero de San Antonio, CA
Sacramento River, CA
Trinity River, CA
Blue Creek, Klamath River, CA
Columbia River, WA
Yakima Canyon Ranch, Yakima R., WA
Four Seasons Ranch, Yakima R., WA
Bear River, WA
Little Deschutes River, OR
Sixes Creek, OR
Emigrant Creek, OR
Birch Creek Ranch, Umatilla R., OR
UmaBirch Floodplain, Umatilla R., OR
McDermitt Creek, OR & NV
Deschutes River, OR
Wrights Creek, OR
Racetrack Creek, MT
Badger Creek, ID
Saint Joe River, ID
Panther Creek, ID
Selway River, ID
Letter from the President and Chair
Fiscal year 2024 was an amazing twelve months. Thanks to you, Western Rivers Conservancy launched, advanced or completed 27 projects totaling more than 80,500 acres across the West. The geography of these places is vast, from headwater streams and alpine meadows in the Colorado Rockies, to the high desert of the Columbia Plateau and on to the redwoods, estuaries and salmon streams of the Pacific Coast. We purchased six new properties and conveyed another seven to state, federal, tribal and county partners, who will manage these lands for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people for generations.
So, when fly anglers in Colorado head out to fish Tarryall Creek in South Park, they will have new access to five exquisite miles of fly water because WRC created Collard Ranch State Wildlife Area last year to conserve this critical stretch of river. When the Klamath River’s fall-run salmon return to spawning grounds that were re-opened through dam removal, it will be the cold water of Blue Creek, which WRC and the Yurok Tribe are protecting, that allows them to survive that journey upstream. When deer, elk and pronghorn find healthy habitat free of fences at Badger Creek Canyon Ranch in eastern Idaho, it will be because of our ongoing efforts to protect this incredibly important place. And, at Bodega Bay in northern California, when members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria walk along the newly protected shores of the Estero de San Antonio, on ancestral land they can call their own for the first time in generations, it will be because of our partnership with the Tribe to conserve this fragile estuary.
The point is this: Our work makes a difference. And if there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s the need for healthy, accessible rivers. We all benefit when there are fish in our creeks and wildlife on the banks. Having places to hike, hunt, pitch a tent, launch a boat, cast a fly, tell stories and create new ones with family and friends is a win for everyone. Our communities, our children and our lives all depend on rivers. In 2024, we accomplished a lot for them. We hope the pages of this report bring that work to life and reveal just how much we are doing, acre by acre, river-mile by river-mile, to create a better future for the great rivers of the West—and each other.
Our gains last year were meaningful, and yet much work remains to be done. Thank you for being part of this important endeavor.
Nelson Mathews
Carter MacNichol President Board Chair
Nelson Mathews, President
Carter MacNichol, Board Chair
South Platte River Colorado
Conservation Milestones for Wildlife and Angler Access in South Park
K ey Facts >>
KEY ANIMALS
Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, pronghorn, beaver, mountain plover
KEY FISH
brown trout, rainbow trout
LONG-TERM STEWARD
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Tarryall Creek
PROJECT SIZE
1,860 acres
Michigan Creek
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES RIVER MILES
120 acres 5 miles 0.25 miles
WRC created two new state wildlife areas in South Park last year, one at Collard Ranch on Tarryall Creek (top left) and another at Michigan Creek (facing page). We’ve now protected a total of 1,980 acres of habitat in South Park for Rocky Mountain elk, moose, mule deer (top right), pronghorn, beaver, mountain lion, black bear, mountain plover and other wildlife and created outstanding new recreational access for people.
Tarryall Creek Michigan Creek
The South Platte River is the ecological and scenic centerpiece of South Park, the largest of three high-elevation basins along Colorado’s Front Ranch. A short drive from Denver, South Park and the South Platte provide outstanding habitat for fish and wildlife and superb recreation.
South Park is also home to Collard Ranch, which spans 1,860 acres of high-elevation grasslands and five miles of Tarryall Creek, a prized trout stream and major South Platte tributary. In December 2023, WRC purchased the ranch and spent early 2024 working to secure funding through Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Habitat Stamp to transfer it to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. We conveyed the ranch to CPW in March, creating the Collard Ranch State Wildlife Area and protecting all five miles of Tarryall Creek that wind through the ranch.
Creating the state wildlife area also conserved part of a major migration corridor for Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer that take refuge here during their movement between surrounding high peaks and lower elevation grasslands. Tarryall Creek itself supports a hardy population of beavers that create ponds and wetlands for waterfowl and add in-stream structure for the creek’s coveted trout.
In late 2024, WRC protected a superb stretch of Michigan Creek, a principal tributary of Tarryall Creek and the South Platte. Michigan Creek flows into the Tarryall just a few miles downstream of the Collard Ranch State Wildlife Area and is a small but productive fishing stream in its own right.
The 120-acre property we conserved lies along a quarter mile of Michigan Creek on a stretch defined by dramatic outcroppings of granite that tower over the winding stream. Above these cliffs, grassy uplands provide forage for deer and elk migrating between the low mountains of the Lost Creek Wilderness to the east and the wintering grounds of South Park’s open grasslands.
The Michigan Creek property was donated to WRC in 2023 by lifelong conservationists, John and Jan Lacher, who wanted to see this special place protected. In 2024, we placed a conservation easement on the property with Colorado Open Lands and later conveyed the lands to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, creating the Michigan Creek State Wildlife Area. Thanks to this generous donation and our partnership with CPW and COL, the property’s fish and wildlife habitat will remain intact and new public access will be opened for anglers, hunters and wildlife viewers.
Dolores River Colorado
Conserving a Cold-Water Savings Vault for the Dolores River
Many of the West’s healthiest mountain streams owe at least part of that distinction to the presence of wetland meadows. Like cold-water savings vaults, they collect and store snowmelt and rain in spring, then gradually release cold, clean flows into adjoining rivers and creeks in late summer and early fall, when stream systems—and fish—need them most. Wet meadows recharge vital groundwater and filter out silt and excess nutrients that, in turn, enrich soils for grasses, shrubs and trees that provide essential habitat for wildlife.
Trout are steady indicators of stream health, so it follows that systems with intact wetland meadows should have strong populations. That is certainly the case high in the San Miguel Mountains at the headwaters of the renowned Dolores River, where a prized 160-acre inholding known as Dunton Meadows supplies cold, clean water to some of the best habitat around for imperiled Colorado River cutthroat trout.
Recognizing the importance of this critical property, Western Rivers Conservancy set out to protect Dunton Meadows in 2021 and successfully purchased the property in 2023. After we secured funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we conveyed the property to the San Juan National Forest in October 2024, forever protecting this lifegiving meadow.
Located at the southern edge of the popular Lizard Head Wilderness, Dunton Meadows opens across a spectacular high-elevation saddle in the shadow of the 14,254-foot Mount Wilson, surrounded by high ridges and peaks and bordered by national forest on all sides.
Just off its eastern edge, Dunton Meadows drains into Coal Creek—a stronghold for Colorado River cutthroat trout—five miles upstream of its confluence with the mainstem Dolores River. Meadow Creek, another Dolores tributary and popular fly fishing stream, meanders through the property’s western corner.
Dunton Meadows’ sweeping views of Mount Wilson and the Lizard Head Wilderness are emblematic of the area. The property is bisected by an access road that connects hikers to two of Colorado’s most scenic trails: the Navajo Lake Trail and the Kilpacker Trail. The National Forest’s acquisition of the property ensures this pristine mountain meadow, and its views, remain forever intact.
Colorado River cutthroat trout 160 acres 0.3 miles San Juan National Forest
Rocky Mountain elk, black bear, mule deer, Canada lynx, American marten
WRC successfully conserved Dunton Meadows (left), a 160-acre inholding in the San Juan National Forest that includes excellent subalpine meadow habitat that wildlife like Rocky Mountain elk (above), mule deer, black bear, Canada lynx and American marten depend on.
FRANK FICHTMÜLLER
La Jara Basin, Colorado
Landscape-Scale Conservation in the San Luis Valley
Above the San Luis Valley, upper La Jara Creek is a quintessential mountain meadow stream banked by grasslands and wildflowers, with forests and spectacular canyonlands at opposite sides of the landscape. Cultural sites show human habitation in the area for at least 5,000 years, and local ranching families have been part of the landscape for generations. Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer and Rio Grande cutthroat trout are all residents.
Here in the La Jara Basin, at the edge of the San Juan Mountains, the Colorado State Land Board owns a vast swath of land—45,952 acres and 30 stream miles—centered on La Jara Creek. When the board contemplated disposing of the property, it approached WRC to shape a conservation solution that would keep these lands intact, managed for fish and wildlife and permanently open to all. WRC entered into an agreement with the land board and began the process of securing funding to permanently place this special landscape into conservation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
The embodiment of landscape-scale conservation, the beauty of WRC’s plan for the La Jara is the way the pieces come together. Each partnering natural resource agency will manage the areas that play into its strengths. Forestlands on the west side will be managed by the Forest Service. Ridges and canyons to the east will be managed by the BLM. And Colorado Parks
and Wildlife will manage the central meadow section, including its creeks, native trout fishery and the popular La Jara Reservoir. Conservation-compatible grazing by local families will continue, as will public access for recreation. Once full funding is secured and management plans are complete, each agency will take ownership from the State Land Board. Meanwhile, WRC is the engine keeping the project moving forward.
The vast La Jara Basin property is home to 30 miles of streams, native fish, diverse wildlife and invaluable cultural sites. It's also an irreplaceable resource for the people of Colorado, from recreationists to local ranching families.
CHRISTI BODE
Alamosa River, Colorado
Cliff Lake: A Cutthroat Stronghold and Alpine Escape
At first glance, it may seem odd for Western Rivers Conservancy to buy land along a lake. But Cliff Lake, high in the San Juan Mountains, is a crucial headwater of the Alamosa River and home to an important population of native Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Perched at a lofty 11,600 feet, the lake also funnels ice-cold snowmelt off the surrounding peaks and down into the water quality-challenged Alamosa River, making it a critical source of clean water for the Alamosa.
In 2024, WRC signed an agreement to purchase an 800-acre property along the northeast shore of Cliff Lake to protect the only stretch of its shoreline that lies outside the surrounding Rio Grande National Forest. Half of Cliff Lake is buttressed by cliffs and the steep, scree-blanketed slopes of Cornwall Mountain. The other half, where the Cliff Lake property lies, is lined with mature evergreens that shade the lake’s outflow to Castleman Gulch, a narrow stream that tumbles precipitously down to the Alamosa River. The property itself is a mix of subalpine spruce, meadows and riparian stands and spans nearly a mile of Castleman Gulch. The property and its surroundings provide outstanding habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain lion and peregrine falcon. It has also been identified as important habitat for threatened Canada lynx.
WRC purchased the Cliff Lake property in early 2025, and our goal is to convey it to the national forest, ensuring
the lake and these very special 800 acres of alpine heaven remain undeveloped and accessible to all. With the lake’s approach through public land cut off by steep terrain, the flat, more accessible Cliff Lake property was long cherished by local recreationists before it was recently closed by previous owners. This will change permanently once we convey the property, and this cold-water refuge for Rio Grande cutthroats will be protected for good.
WRC is working to conserve a cold-water refuge for Rio Grande cutthroat trout (top) by purchasing an 800-acre property along Cliff Lake (inset) and conveying it to the national forest.
RIVER NAME
Little Sur River California
Steelhead, Redwoods and the Ancestral Lands of the Esselen Tribe
In 2024, amidst the ancient redwoods and oak woodlands of Big Sur, Western Rivers Conservancy and the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County worked to conserve a stretch of the Little Sur River, oak woodlands and one of the largest stands of old-growth redwoods on the Central Coast—all by returning a 327-acre property called Pico Blanco to the Esselen Tribe.
The pristine Little Sur River is considered the Central Coast’s most important spawning stream for threatened South-Central California Coast steelhead. It flows just over 25 miles from its headwaters in the Santa Lucia Mountains, within the Ventana Wilderness, down into a deep, nearly inaccessible redwood-shaded valley and into the Pacific, just north of Andrew Molera State Park. The river valley is rugged and remote and provides excellent habitat for imperiled wildlife, including California spotted owl, endangered California condor and threatened California red-legged frog.
The Pico Blanco property includes 1.3 miles of the Little Sur and holds significant sacred and cultural meaning for the Tribe. It is located at the base of a white limestone-topped mountain they call Pixchi (locally known as Pico Blanco), which the Esselen consider the “Center of the Esselen World” and the beginning of their creation story. The property has one of the only flat, easily accessible stretches of the Little Sur, making it especially valuable. It was once owned by the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who donated the land to the Boy Scouts in the 1950s.
WRC’s effort to conserve the Pico Blanco property began in 2019, and in 2023 we were finally able to negotiate a deal to purchase it from the Boy Scouts. We spent 2024 negotiating with the landowners and working to secure funding from the California Wildlife Conservation Board. We successfully conveyed the property to the Tribe in December 2024.
A true hidden gem, the Pico Blanco property is so densely forested that tree canopy is nearly all that can be seen from a bird’s eye view. Because of its unique river access, the property was used by the Esselen for millennia prior to European contact. Under the Esselen’s stewardship once again, Pico Blanco will remain intact and be managed for the benefit of fish and wildlife. The Tribe will be able to reconnect with sacred ancestral lands and again gather on the banks of the Little Sur River, a cool, redwood-shaded lifeline on the undeniably magical Big Sur Coast.
Jana Nason (right), tribal administrator for the Esselen Tribe, visits ancient redwoods on the 327-acre Pico Blanco property that WRC and the Tribe conserved in 2024. Our efforts protected 1.3 miles of the Little Sur, a critical spawning stream for SouthCentral California Coast steelhead (left).
Estero de San Antonio California
Boosting Habitat and Cultural Resilience at Bodega Bay
Along the Pacific Coast, estuaries support a rich diversity of fish, birds, plants and other animals—many of them rare. These vibrant habitats have also drawn people for millennia, forging deep cultural and ecological ties. Dillon Beach Ranch, perched on a bluff overlooking a small estuary and Northern California’s spectacular coastline, is just such a place.
In August 2024, Western Rivers Conservancy permanently conserved Dillon Beach Ranch by conveying the property to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria for the sake of its fragile fish and wildlife and unique cultural heritage.
Just 40 miles north of the Golden Gate, in West Marin County, the ranch covers 466 stunning acres of windswept coastal terrace, 400 feet above the Pacific and the Estero de San Antonio (estero is Spanish for estuary). It includes 1.5 miles of the southern shore of the estuary and another 1.5 miles of coastline to the south. Views sweep north to Bodega Head and south to Tomales Bay and Point Reyes National Seashore.
wetland areas of the estuary. Now that this special property is in the hands of the Graton Rancheria, its irreplaceable natural and cultural resources will forever be protected.
K ey Facts >>
To guarantee a conservation future, WRC purchased the ranch in December 2023. We then worked closely with the Graton Rancheria to craft a durable conservation solution for the property.
Ancestors of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which includes Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo communities, inhabited the estuary and surrounding area for centuries, with ancestral lands, cultural sites and descendants still present today.
The estuary and its ever-evolving tidal ecosystem are formed where a small stream called Stemple Creek meets the Pacific at the southern end of Bodega Bay. This estuary ecosystem remains largely intact, incredibly diverse and wholly unique. The federally endangered and seldom-seen Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly is known to flit about the area— and likely nowhere else. Though endangered, the scrappy little northern tidewater goby still darts among the estuary’s seasonal sandbars, while threatened California red-legged frogs inhabit
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
466 acres 1.5 miles
LONG-TERM STEWARD
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
KEY ANIMALS
Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly, California red-legged frog, mule deer, marbled godwit
KEY FISH
northern tidewater goby
WRC conserved 1.5 miles of the Estero de San Antonio and 1.5 miles of Pacific coastline (left), by conveying Dillon Beach Ranch to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The partners celebrated the success at a special event in Tomales, Calif. in 2024 (above). Attendees included FIGR Tribal Chairman Greg Sarris (4th from left); Congressman Jared Huffman (8th); Calif. Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis (9th); and CDFW Director Chuck Bonham (11th).
ELIZABETH L. BAIRD
River, California RIVER NAME
A Win for Salmon, Forests and People on California’s Biggest River Sacramento
The longest and largest river in California, the Sacramento River flows for nearly 400 miles and provides over 30 percent of the state’s water supply. It has more fish species than any other river system in California and is home to an incredible array of wildlife.
Between the cities of Redding and Red Bluff, the river dips into a large, low-elevation channel. This 56-mile section represents the only stretch of the Sacramento below Shasta Dam that remains in a relatively natural condition. This portion of river also includes the Bureau of Land Management’s Sacramento River Bend Area, which harbors a lush expanse of wetlands, wildlife habitat, archaeological sites, excellent recreational opportunities and stunning vistas.
In December 2024, WRC purchased a 288-acre property called the Jelly’s Ferry parcel, which lies within this scenic corridor and adjacent to the Sacramento River Bend Area. Using funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we were able to immediately transfer the property to the Bureau of Land Management for permanent protection. The Jelly’s Ferry parcel includes a mile of the Sacramento and precious stands of cottonwoods, valley oaks and sycamores—forests like those of centuries past that are now rare along the river.
Under BLM ownership, riparian and side-channel habitats will be restored, greatly benefitting imperiled Chinook salmon, green sturgeon, winter steelhead and Pacific lamprey. Western
monarch butterflies, which rely on the abundant milkweed found on the property, as well as black-tailed deer, ringtail cat and other wildlife, all stand to benefit from our efforts.
The project is also a big gain for people. The BLM plans to open significant new recreational access to this stretch of the river, which is part of a larger area that is extremely popular among anglers, equestrians, hunters, hikers, boaters and others. All told, this effort helps ensure a critical stretch of the mighty Sacramento remains a haven for fish, wildlife and people for generations to come.
In late 2024, WRC conveyed 288 acres along the Sacramento River (top) to the BLM, conserving mature riparian forests that support birds like yellow-billed cuckoo (inset).
TEDDY MILLER PAUL SPARKS
River, California
Unlocking the Next Phase of the Trinity River’s Recovery
Northern California’s Trinity River drains more than 3,000 square miles of steep, rugged, densely forested mountains that are home to some of the greatest biological diversity on Earth. It is the largest tributary to the Klamath River and historically produced more salmon, steelhead and cold water than any other river in the Klamath system.
But the Trinity was put through the wringer for over a century, first by gold mining and logging and later by hydroelectric projects that diverted nearly all the Trinity’s water to California’s Central Valley. Today, the great salmon and steelhead runs of the Klamath’s largest artery are a fraction of their historic numbers.
Despite these challenges, the Trinity remains one of the West’s most important steelhead rivers. It has also long been a premier whitewater destination, and over 200 miles of the mainstem, North Fork and South Fork have been designated Wild and Scenic. Given the caliber of this river, in 2000, the Department of the Interior signed off on a massive interagency, inter-tribal restoration project to restore the anadromous fish runs of the Trinity. That effort has been underway for over two decades. Recently, a major component of the project hinged on getting a single property called Benjamin Flats into public hands.
Beginning in 2023 and throughout 2024, Western Rivers Conservancy worked in partnership with the Bureau of Land
Management to conserve this vital property. By getting it into BLM ownership, we could not only protect a half-mile stretch of the Trinity but usher in the critical next phase of this multi-decade restoration effort. We successfully facilitated the agency’s purchase of the property in November 2024. Stream restoration is already underway, and the BLM is now exploring the best way to blend restoration and public access along this important stretch of the Wild and Scenic Trinity River.
WRC partnered with the BLM to conserve a key property on the Trinity River (top), one of the West’s most important streams for salmon and steelhead (inset).
RIVER NAME
Blue Creek and the Klamath River, California
Taking the Final Steps to Save the Lifeline of the Klamath River
In 2002, Western Rivers Conservancy launched what has become one of the most important land conservation efforts in California history: The creation of the 47,097 acre Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and Yurok Tribal Community Forest on the lower Klamath River. To do this, we partnered with the Yurok Tribe to purchase a Manhattan-size swath of temperate rainforest from Green Diamond Resource Company and convey it to the Tribe. In 2024, we stood at the cusp of completing this nearly two-decade effort to conserve the entire unprotected lower half of Blue Creek, the cold-water lifeline of the Klamath River.
For the Klamath’s salmon, this is a project of immeasurable importance, coming at the pivotal moment of California’s removal of the Klamath’s four mainstem dams. Blue Creek provides the first influx of cold water on the lower Klamath and, without the cool-down the creek provides, summer and fall-run salmon could never reach their up-river spawning grounds. This has become exponentially more meaningful now that hundreds of miles of historic salmon habitat have been reopened upstream.
Bringing a project of this scale to fruition—at a cost of over $70 million—has required creative, cutting-edge conservation finance strategies, including New Markets Tax Credits and selling carbon offsets, in addition to the millions we raised from individuals, foundations and state and federal agencies. In 2024, WRC worked with our state agency partners, private
funders and the Yurok Tribe to begin the process of conveying the final lands to the Yurok in a manner that satisfied state funding requirements and the Tribe’s future objectives. Just before this report went to press, WRC successfully transferred the final 14,968 acres to the Yurok Tribe, a momentous win for Blue Creek, the Yurok and the Klamath River itself. With Blue Creek now protected, salmon—the keystone species of the entire Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion—will always be able to cool down at Blue Creek on their way upriver to spawn.
In partnership with the Yurok Tribe, WRC worked to complete conservation of 47,097 acres along the lower Klamath and Blue Creek (top), which Chinook salmon (inset) depend on to cool down on their spawning migration upstream.
PETER
MARBACH
THOMAS DUNKLIN
Columbia River, Washington
Adding Habitat and Expanding Access to the Big Bend Wildlife Area
No great river’s story is confined to its main channel. They all lie at the heart of something much bigger. The Columbia River, for example, is as much about the countless places that its waters have reached, shaped or nurtured over millennia as it is about the monumental mainstem itself.
Big Bend in Eastern Washington is one of those places. Overlooking the Columbia River from high flats carved by ancient ice, Big Bend is a sweeping gooseneck bend on the Columbia with breathtaking, expansive views and habitat assemblages emblematic of the region. Its arid landscape of basalt cliffs, deep draws and sagebrush steppe is accented by seasonal streams, spring-fed wetlands and scattered stands of ponderosa pine. Big Bend lies 14 miles northeast of Grand Coulee and across the river from the 1.4 million-acre Colville Reservation.
In early 2024, Western Rivers Conservancy purchased a pivotal property along Big Bend: the 2,135-acre Big Bend Ranch, which includes 1.5 miles of Columbia River frontage. Our next step is to secure funding that will allow us to convey the ranch to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for inclusion and protection within the spectacular 22,121-acre Big Bend Wildlife Area.
Big Bend hosts an abundance of birds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, neotropical migrants and raptors. The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse—one of Washington’s most imperiled species—is one of four grouse varieties found on the
ranch. Mule deer, black bear, and mountain lion roam freely there, too. The addition of Big Bend Ranch to the wildlife area will greatly enhance recreational opportunities, including hiking, hunting, biking, wildlife watching and horseback riding.
Big Bend’s story will continue to evolve—through the forces of nature, as people work to bring back salmon to the Columbia’s upper reaches, and as we together conserve special places like Big Bend Ranch. WRC is proud to contribute in our unique way, ensuring conservation along Big Bend rolls on.
WRC purchased the Big Bend Ranch (top), which includes 1.5 miles of the Columbia River and prime habitat for imperiled Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (inset).
STATE
RIVER NAME
Yakima River Washington
Big Gains for Salmon and Recreation on a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream
K ey Facts >>
KEY ANIMALS
Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, California bighorn sheep, bald eagle, prairie falcon, great horned owl
KEY FISH
Chinook salmon, coho salmon, summer steelhead, redband trout, bull trout
Yakima Canyon Ranch
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
647 acres
3.5 miles
LONG-TERM STEWARD Bureau of Land Management
Four Seasons Ranch
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
39 acres 0.27 miles
LONG-TERM STEWARD
Kittitas County
Anglers fish the banks of Yakima Canyon Ranch (far right), which WRC conserved in 2024. Two hikers explore the ranch by foot (top left). Upstream, WRC conserved Four Seasons Ranch (top right), which will allow ongoing floodplain restoration efforts to continue.
Yakima Canyon Ranch Four Seasons Ranch
For 214 miles, Washington’s Yakima River flows from the eastern Cascades to the Columbia River. Arguably the crown jewel of the Yakima—especially for fly anglers and floaters—is the 27-mile Yakima River Canyon.
More than 9,000 acres of the canyon are managed by the BLM as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern, though some key properties have remained private. One such property was the 647-acre Yakima Canyon Ranch, where a change in ownership could have threatened public access, habitat, or both. In 2021, after years of interest, Western Rivers Conservancy purchased the ranch. WRC then secured funding to transfer it to the BLM in early 2024 for permanent conservation and recreation management.
The ranch spans both banks of the Yakima for 3.5 miles and provides an indispensable boat ramp at Bighorn, along with scenic camping and hiking opportunities between Bighorn and Umtanum. California bighorn sheep, golden eagles, prairie falcons, elk, mule deer and myriad birds and mammals thrive here. The ranch also offers direct access to the adjacent 106,000-acre Wenas Wildlife Area.
With the transfer complete, the ranch’s rich wildlife habitat—and its cherished tradition of public access—will be protected forever.
Famous for its redband rainbow trout, Washington’s Yakima River once produced prolific runs of salmon and steelhead—runs that have since dwindled or disappeared. In recent years, however, broad efforts have emerged to bring those runs back so this legendary trout stream becomes a place of salmon and steelhead once again.
In 2023, WRC seized a rare opportunity to advance one of the largest restoration efforts in the basin: a project to rehabilitate over 650 acres of prime floodplain habitat along four miles of the Yakima. The key was conserving a small but critical 39-acre tract known as Four Seasons Ranch.
For nearly a decade, Kittitas County has worked with landowners to acquire and restore habitat in this stretch, with one last parcel remaining. WRC negotiated its purchase and, in October 2023, conveyed it to the county for permanent conservation.
Now, levees and berms will be removed or left to decay, side channels will be reconnected, and cottonwoods restored, allowing the river to meander across its natural floodplain once again.
Though small in size, Four Seasons Ranch unlocks outsized benefits—for salmon, for steelhead, and for the communities that rely on a thriving Yakima River.
Conserving Salmon Habitat and Old-Growth Forest at Willapa Bay
Just north of the Columbia River mouth, Washington’s Willapa Bay is one of the West Coast’s largest estuaries, spanning 17,000 acres of saltwater marsh, intertidal flats, temperate rainforest, lush wetlands, open water and streams. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge in 1937 to protect the bay’s ecological and recreational values—foresight that has only grown more relevant over time. Maintaining those values into the future requires meaningful conservation today.
On that front, Western Rivers Conservancy added prime fish and wildlife habitat to the NWR in January 2024 by permanently conserving a property called the Willapa Coastal Forest. The property includes 2,366 acres of mixed forest and majestic old-growth, braided with 39 miles of perennial and intermittent streams, all centering on 3.2 mainstem miles of the Bear River. We conveyed the property to the Willapa NWR as a cornerstone addition to the refuge’s southern reaches.
The Bear River flows into the southern end of Willapa Bay, and is extremely important for salmon, wildlife and the greater bay ecosystem. The stretch of the river that winds through the Willapa Coastal Forest provides critical spawning and rearing habitat for chum, coho, fall Chinook, winter steelhead and coastal cutthroat. Moreover, the property’s addition to the NWR bolsters the conservation impact of the massive, decade-long Bear River Estuary Restoration project, completed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2018.
Alongside Columbian black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk, more than 200 species of birds visit Willapa NWR annually, including endangered marbled murrelet and threatened western snowy plover. Adding the property to the NWR will also significantly expand public access and opportunities for birding, hiking and hunting.
Thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and to acquisition funding from the Land and Water
Conservation Fund and the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board, WRC was able to permanently protect the Willapa Coastal Forest. Nearly a century since the designation of the Willapa NWR, WRC’s efforts helped position the refuge for a future that includes healthier salmon runs and even better habitat for the birds and other wildlife that make this place so special.
K ey Facts >>
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
2,366 acres 3.2 mainstem, 4.3 tributary
LONG-TERM STEWARD
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
KEY ANIMALS
marbled murrelet, black bear, Roosevelt elk, Columbian black-tailed deer
KEY FISH
chum salmon, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, sea-run cutthroat trout, steelhead
WRC added 2,366 acres of temperate rainforest and 3.2 miles of the Bear River (left) to the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. The stretch of the Bear that winds through this property provides habitat for Chinook (above), chum and steelhead.
ROGER TABOR
Little Deschutes River O regon
Paulina Meadows: A Confluence of Conservation and Recreation
The Wild and Scenic Deschutes River is one of Oregon’s most iconic streams, known for its trout and steelhead fishing, whitewater boating and stunning scenery along its 252-mile journey from the high Cascades to the Columbia. The Little Deschutes, also a wild and scenic river in its upper reaches, is the southernmost of the Deschutes’ main tributaries. The lower 80 miles of the “Little D” have beautiful, low-gradient meanders lined with forested wetlands and lush marshes.
Paulina Creek, a tributary to the Little Deschutes, is a gem in its own right, with much of the stream protected inside the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Deschutes National Forest. However, a short stretch of the creek from the forest boundary to its confluence with the Little Deschutes is privately owned.
Here, WRC purchased 674 acres, including the lower stretch of Paulina Creek, tributary streams, roughly 2 miles of the Little Deschutes, and a mix
of forest, oxbow, meadow, riparian and wetland habitats. Our goal is to convey them to the BLM, which owns nearly all the adjacent land, except for a property immediately upstream, which is owned by the Deschutes Land Trust. Our efforts will complement work already underway by the trust to rewater this lower portion of Paulina Creek, which currently flows only part of the year.
The stretch of the Little Deschutes that runs through Paulina Meadows has some of the densest occurrences of Oregon spotted frog in the lower river. A federally threatened species, Oregon spotted frog populations have declined in recent years due to predation by non-native bullfrogs, water withdrawals and habitat alterations. Conserving the property’s habitat and switching to compatible grazing mitigate all three.
The stands of ponderosa pines on the property are also unnaturally dense, and improved forest management, combined with compatible grazing, will significantly reduce wildfire risk—critical in an area so close to the town of La Pine.
Once Paulina Meadows is conserved, the entire length of Paulina Creek will be protected, complementing significant habitat restoration happening upstream. Our work will safeguard important elk habitat and a piece of the state’s longest mule deer migration corridor, while improving access for boating, hiking, fishing, hunting and birdwatching. Overall, it’s a win for conservation, agriculture and recreation alike.
At the confluence of the Little Deschutes River (right) and Paulina Creek, WRC is working to conserve Paulina Meadows. The property includes some of the densest occurrences of Oregon spotted frog (left) in the lower Deschutes River basin.
RIVER NAME STATE
Sixes Creek, O regon
Safeguarding a Salmon Stronghold for the Salmon and Sandy Rivers
One of the Lower 48’s few rivers designated as Wild and Scenic for its entire length, Oregon’s Salmon River is a crown jewel of the Columbia Basin. It rises from glaciers on Mount Hood, flows through a rugged, nearly inaccessible basalt gorge, plunges over six spectacular waterfalls that only the most intrepid will ever see, and churns through old-growth forests of the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness before finally flowing into the Sandy River. All in just 33 river miles. The Salmon, as its name implies, is also one of the most important producers of coho, Chinook and steelhead in the Sandy River system.
In 2024, Western Rivers Conservancy set out to protect a critical property near the Salmon-Sandy confluence on a smaller tributary stream called Sixes Creek. Flowing cold and clean from the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Sixes Creek has one of the highest densities of spawning coho salmon in the entire Sandy River system. Where it meets the Salmon River, it
opens into a floodplain wetland complex that provides excellent spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. This wetland is protected within the Bureau of Land Management’s popular Wildwood Recreation Site, which contains educational displays and a network of trails used by some 80,000 people every year.
The 283-acre property we set out to conserve lies adjacent to Wildwood and includes 1.5 miles of Sixes Creek immediately upstream. Our goal is to convey the property to the BLM, expanding Wildwood and permanently protecting this important stretch of Sixes Creek. Conserving the property will also keep its maturing forests standing, a tremendous benefit to the creek, its fish and the area’s wildlife. Timber harvest on the property would not only degrade habitat in Sixes Creek, but the Wildwood viewshed and the integrity of the Wild and Scenic Salmon River corridor as well.
Lending even greater importance to this effort is the BLM’s recent restoration work at the mouth of Sixes Creek, where it reconnected the creek’s floodplain with the Salmon River by creating a massive 12 by 40-foot logjam. WRC’s conservation of the Sixes Creek property will protect the source-flows of the wetland and allow for additional restoration in the creek’s critical lower reach. The project builds on WRC’s years of work in the Sandy River basin and will have a significant impact on one of the Pacific Northwest’s truly great river systems.
WRC committed to purchase a key stretch of Sixes Creek (top), a tributary to the Salmon River. The 283-acre property includes wetlands and mature forests that provide excellent habitat for wildlife like northern spotted owl (inset).
DANIEL CRONIN
FRANK D. LOSPALLUTO
Protecting Habitat and Trails in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot
Southern Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is an ecological wonderland, with some of the greatest diversity of plant and animal life in the West. Located at the convergence of three distinct mountain ranges—the Klamath, Cascade and Siskiyou—it is an area of global biological importance and the country’s only national monument set aside specifically for its biodiversity. It’s an extraordinary place, with more than 200 bird species and some of the widest array of butterfly species in the country. Many of its plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world.
In August 2022, WRC signed an agreement to purchace a 1,425-acre property called Emigrant Creek Ranch, which lies within the boundaries of the monument and includes three miles of perennial streams that all feed the Rogue River. Throughout 2023 and 2024, we worked to secure funding to purchase the property and convey it into permanent conservation ownership.
The ranch lies at the doorstep of the Soda Mountain Wilderness, in a vital transition zone between the monument’s higher-elevation oak savanna and grasslands. Roughly 1,200 acres of the ranch contain oak savanna habitat, one of the monument’s most underrepresented plant communities. Riparian habitats along the streams that weave through the property are home to sensitive species like foothill yellowlegged frog and western pond turtle. The ranch also lies within an east-west migration corridor used by black-tailed
A hiker explores Emigrant Creek (top) where WRC is working to conserve a 1,425-acre property (inset) with rare oak savanna habitat.
deer and Roosevelt elk traveling between the Klamath Mountains and the Cascade Range.
Our goal is to purchase Emigrant Creek Ranch and transfer it to a capable long-term steward to preserve this critical transition zone and bolster habitat connectivity within the monument. The resilience of the area’s biodiversity depends heavily on this type of connectivity, especially across the disappearing oak communities of the Rogue Valley foothills, where Emigrant Creek Ranch lies. Conserving the ranch will also protect a mile of the Applegate Trail (part of the California National Historic Trail), which meanders through the property.
Umatilla
River
Partnering with the Umatilla Tribe to Revive a Steelhead Lifeline
F
KEY ANIMALS
Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, pronghorn, mountain lion, western meadowlark
KEY FISH
Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, redband trout
Birch Creek Ranch
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
100 acres
LONG-TERM STEWARD
1.3 miles
Blue Mountain Land Trust
UmaBirch Floodplain
PROJECT SIZE RIVER MILES
943 acres 2.72 miles
LONG-TERM STEWARD
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
WRC is working with the Umatilla Tribes and other partners throughout the Umatilla River basin to conserve habitat for salmon, steelhead, pronghorn (top left) and other fish and wildlife. We purchased Birch Creek Ranch on Birch Creek (far right) in 2024 and conserved the UmaBirch Floodplain property (top right) in early 2025.
Upstream of the UmaBirch Floodplain property on Birch Creek, WRC took another step toward improving conditions for Umatilla River steelhead, chinook and coho salmon. In October 2024, we purchased the 100-acre Birch Creek Ranch, including over a mile of Birch Creek, the Umatilla River’s largest producer of ESA-listed Mid-Columbia summer steelhead.
WRC plans to convey the ranch to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), who intend to extensively restore nearly a mile of wandering floodplain and remove a longstanding earthen barrier that has impeded fish migration for decades. Birch Creek Ranch—which the CTUIR renamed Kwálkwal (an onomatopoeia suggesting the sound of wild turkeys)—holds tremendous potential for fish and wildlife. It contains significant senior water rights that the CTUIR will dedicate back in-stream, nourishing the creek and the floodplain below. It also supports diverse wildlife, including Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, pronghorn, mountain lion, golden eagle, osprey and more.
WRC’s purchase of the property bolsters CTUIR’s basin-wide fisheries recovery efforts while complementing our UmaBirch Floodplain project downstream. Together, these are a one-two punch for habitat, water, fish and wildlife that will dramatically improve the odds that steelhead and salmon will thrive again in the Umatilla system.
Oregon’s Umatilla River was once one of the mid-Columbia’s major producers of salmon and steelhead. Yet, for decades, the Umatilla ran dry during irrigation season, and its salmon and steelhead stopped returning. Due largely to the work of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), numbers of both have been steadily bouncing back.
To build on these efforts, WRC worked with the CTUIR and Blue Mountain Land Trust (BMLT) in 2024 to craft a conservation easement to protect the 943-acre UmaBirch Floodplain property, which lies at the confluence of the Umatilla and Birch Creek, the Umatilla’s most prolific steelhead tributary. In early 2025, we secured transfer of the easement to the BMLT with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration. The property includes 1.35 miles of the Umatilla River and 1.37 miles of Birch Creek.
With the conservation easement now in place, the CTUIR can continue with the largest floodplain restoration effort in the Umatilla Basin, which hinged upon WRC and the BMLT’s ability to protect the property. The Tribes will restore 317 acres of floodplain habitat, reconnect side channels and reestablish riparian forests on the property. Its senior water rights will also be returned in-stream, greatly enhancing aquatic habitat for fish.
TYLER ROEMER
RIVER NAME
McDermitt Creek, O regon and Nevada
Saving a Key Population of Great Basin Lahontan Cutthroat
As the massive Lake Lahontan receded 13,000 years ago, it formed an array of lakes, seeps and streams across present-day Nevada, southeast Oregon and northeastern California. These places became part of the Great Basin and home to the lake’s namesake fish, the Lahontan cutthroat trout. As iconic to these landscapes as sagebrush, basalt and pronghorn, wild Lahontans now persist in only about 10 percent of their historic range, tenaciously hanging on in pockets of isolated, cold streams scattered across the basin.
Ensuring the survival of these dispersed subpopulations demands strategic conservation of the species’ last intact habitats. That is why Western Rivers Conservancy went all-in on McDermitt Creek—one of the Lahontan cutthroat’s only remaining Quinn River Basin strongholds.
In 2020, WRC purchased Disaster Peak Ranch, a 3,345-acre sagebrush steppe oasis in the Great Basin of northern Nevada and southern Oregon. The longtime cattle ranch is bisected by McDermitt Creek, a stream with a Lahontan population that has remained genetically pure despite potential for hybridization with non-native trout. With 19 stream miles on the ranch itself and connectivity to a total of 55, there is no better opportunity to protect and restore an essential Lahontan stronghold.
In 2024, we conveyed the Nevada side of the ranch to the Nevada Division of State Lands. The Oregon side of the property remains in WRC ownership as we work with Nevada
By conserving Disaster Peak Ranch, WRC will protect 7.5 miles of McDermitt Creek (top) and over 11 miles of tributary streams that are vital to Lahontan cutthroat trout.
Department of Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize a management plan for the entire property that is focused on maintaining and enhancing habitat for Lahontan cutthroat trout. We are currently working with the Oregon Desert Land Trust as a potential Longterm steward that shares our goal to forever protect Disaster Peak Ranch and improve the odds that Lahontan cutthroat thrive again in their native streams.
Deschutes River, O regon
Adding a Link to the Deschutes River Trail in Downtown Bend
Oregon’s legendary Deschutes River is many things to many people: a worldclass steelhead stream, a rafters’ paradise, a trout angler’s dream, a weekend hike, the namesake of a favorite brewery… But in one location, between its Cascade Mountain headwaters and its mouth at the Columbia River, the upper Deschutes becomes one thing to many people: their hometown river.
The Deschutes runs through the heart of downtown Bend, Oregon, and you can fish, swim, paddle and hike it without even leaving the city. The beloved Deschutes River Trail runs intermittently along both sides of it, providing an easy escape into nature for the city’s residents and providing a quality of life that Bend prides itself upon. The trail is decades in the making, and the city continues its efforts to fill the gaps where the trail doesn’t connect. Western Rivers Conservancy has partnered with the Bend Park and Recreation District to purchase a 47-acre property to improve connectivity along the trail across the river from the Riley Ranch Nature Reserve. BPRD’s vision is to connect the trail to the reserve. Our efforts will also conserve a small but important swath of habitat and open space that is increasingly important as Bend continues its rapid growth.
Wrights Creek, O regon
Securing Water and Access in the Headwaters of the Rogue
In Spring 2024, WRC signed an agreement to purchase a 1,974-acre property along a mile of Wrights Creek, a small tributary to Bear Creek in the headwaters of the legendary Rogue River. Visible from downtown Ashland, the Madrone Ridge property lies in and adjacent to the Ashland Creek watershed, the source of the city’s drinking water and some of the community’s most treasured open space. For over a decade the property has been carefully managed to improve forest health and reduce hazardous fuel loads. With the Mediterranean climate of southern Oregon, even the small amount of water rights on the property are important, and restoring the creeks and wetlands on Madrone Ridge could increase base flows for spawning salmon, steelhead and lamprey in Bear Creek.
For Jackson County residents, the property, which is currently private, is a barrier between the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and downtown Ashland. By conveying the property to the city, we can significantly improve access between the bustling community and these nearby quiet woods for hikers, mountain bikers and nature enthusiasts. Our efforts will also protect habitat for several imperiled species, and what could be the area’s most significant grove of mature Pacific madrone.
Racetrack Creek Montana
Conserving a Rare Inholding on a Major Clark Fork River Tributary
In southwest Montana, Western Rivers Conservancy is working to conserve the last private inholding on Racetrack Creek, a large headwater tributary to Montana’s upper Clark Fork River. Known as “The Oxbows,” the 131-acre parcel spans a full mile of verdant river habitat where Racetrack Creek transitions from high-gradient to a slower meander through the valley foothills. WRC purchased the property in 2023 and worked throughout 2024 to secure funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to convey the property to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Transition zones like The Oxbows are special places. They contain diverse habitat assemblages that support a similarly diverse array of insects, plants and wildlife. At The Oxbows, Racetrack Creek spills out into an idyllic shallow canyon, meandering through lush stands of willow and wetlands accented by vividly feathered songbirds and seasonal wildflowers. Cold, clean flows, ample woody debris and a gentle grade provide ideal rearing habitat for native westslope cutthroat trout. Moose, black bear and mule deer all frequent the area, and gray wolves and grizzlies are known to roam through as well.
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is part of the High Divide—a vast high-country hub connecting essential migratory corridors between three of the most intact, massive mountain ecosystems in North America. The long-term health and recovery of species like grizzly bear, moose and wolverine hinges on intact habitat connections throughout the High Divide, meaning conservation of vital islands of transitional habitats like The Oxbows is critical.
Conserving The Oxbows also ensures the adjacent Racetrack Creek Campground and Picnic Area will remain serene and easily accessible. As the only campground in the area, the site is popular during hunting season and offers easy access to trout fishing on Racetrack Creek.
In more ways than one, our work at The Oxbows is a perfect example of the tangible and immensely valuable impact of strategic riverland conservation—and what it means for fish, wildlife and people alike. WRC secured funding from the LWCF in early 2025 and, at the time of writing, was on the cusp of transferring the property to the Forest Service.
Rocky Mountain elk, moose, mule deer, wolf, grizzly bear, black bear PROJECT SIZE
WRC worked throughout 2024 to conserve the last private inholding along upper Racetrack Creek (left). The property contains a mile of the stream and prime habitat for large animals like moose (above), black bear and mule deer.
Badger Creek Idaho
Native Cutthroat and Big Mammals in the Teton River Basin
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem covers 22 million acres across three states and two national parks in the Northern Rockies, constituting what the National Park Service has deemed one of the largest nearly intact temperate ecosystems on Earth. It is obviously—and thankfully—impossible to assign a dollar value to a place of this importance. But if a linchpin piece of this landscape went up for sale, and if conserving it would move the area’s ecological needle forward in a meaningful way, you might just have to negotiate a price and buy it. So, we did.
In June 2024, after a year of negotiation and working to secure local support, Western Rivers Conservancy purchased Badger Creek Canyon Ranch, a critical 613-acre property on Badger Creek, near the head of the Teton River’s rugged 25-mile
working to acquire the funds necessary to convey it to the BLM. The ranch spans 2.5 miles of lower Badger Creek and protecting it will play a key role in a multi-agency effort to recover native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the Teton system.
Badger Creek drains from its headwaters in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, near Grand Teton National Park, into eastern Idaho, where it joins the Teton River. Among its many attributes, upper Badger Creek is one of only four Teton River tributaries where genetically pure Yellowstone cutthroat trout survive without the presence of non-native rainbows, which can compromise native cutthroat populations. WRC’s conservation of Badger Creek Canyon Ranch will not only help recover native cutthroat in lower Badger Creek, but it will also bolster ongoing work to recover the iconic Yellowstone cutthroat throughout the Teton Basin.
Badger Creek Canyon Ranch is a top regional priority for mule deer, and protecting it will improve migration access to essential overwintering habitat for two to three thousand deer, hundreds of Rocky Mountain elk, moose and other species. Adding the ranch to the BLM’s holdings within the lower Badger Creek/Bitch Creek system will also complete a major step in longstanding efforts by the BLM and the state of Idaho to both conserve, and secure access to, the ecologically invaluable Teton Canyon. And it will enhance recreational access across a reconnected landscape where fence lines are fading for the benefit of all.
WRC purchased Badger Creek Canyon Ranch, which includes 2.5 miles of Badger Creek (right) and prime migration habitat for Rocky Mountain elk (left), mule deer and other large animals.
613 acres 2.5 miles
RIVER NAME STATE
Saint Joe River, Idaho
Protecting Idaho’s Shady Saint Joe for Fish, Wildlife and Public Access
The Saint Joe River is a gem of a Rocky Mountain stream, snaking down from Saint Joe Lake, through its spectacular Wild and Scenic River stretch into the southern end of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Its crystal clear water carves a deep-V canyon into the Bitterroot Mountains, and dense conifer forests hem in the river for much of its length, earning it the nickname Shady Saint Joe. The river is cold, and there’s not a single dam obstructing its entire 145-mile run. Westslope cutthroat trout are abundant, and the river holds hope for reviving what is the last self-sustaining population of threatened bull trout in the Lake Coeur d’Alene watershed.
Roughly midway down the river, near the town of Avery, Western Rivers Conservancy committed to purchase a 596-acre inholding within the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, where a stream called Fishhook Creek flows into the Saint Joe. The property includes a mile of the Saint Joe, a half mile of Fishhook Creek and almost a full square mile of private timberlands with lush forests that range from 20 to nearly 100 years old. Our goal is to convey the property to the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, which would keep these forests on their path to maturity. In addition to providing excellent habitat for Canada lynx, grizzly bear, Rocky Mountain elk, mountain goat, moose, mule deer, diverse bird species and a multitude of other species, these forests keep Fishhook Creek cold.
By conveying the Fishhook Creek property to the Forest Service, we will also create excellent new access to the Saint Joe River, which will be a tremendous boon to everyone from fly anglers and hikers to boaters, hunters, horse packers, mountain bikers and bird watchers. It’s a true win-win-win for fish, wildlife and people alike.
A fly angler explores the Saint Joe River (top), where WRC is working to conserve 596 acres of lush forests that keep the river cold and support diverse and rare wildlife like wolverine (inset).
DANIEL
CRONIN
Protecting Prime Salmon Habitat on a Recovering River
Idaho’s Panther Creek—a major tributary to the legendary Salmon River—represents one of the great comebacks of the greater Snake River Basin. Decades of toxic mining runoff left Panther Creek largely devoid of life. Gone were the seasonal pulses of salmon appearing year after year to spawn, leaving carcasses that nourished everything from golden eagles to lodgepole pines. Intensive restoration efforts that began in the mid-1990s, however, have greatly improved water quality in the stream, and spring Chinook have since returned to Panther Creek, renewing life in a vital stream once thought to be lost. Western Rivers Conservancy has worked since 2020 to bolster the remarkable gains made in Panther Creek, and to set the stage for even more.
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the U.S. Forest Service have led restoration on Panther Creek and have identified priority riverlands with tremendous restoration potential for spawning salmon and steelhead. The low-gradient, calmwater characteristics of ideal spawning habitat, however, can make attractive properties for homesites and development too. In 2020, WRC purchased one such parcel—and held it until it could be conveyed to the Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2022. That same year we purchased an additional 448-acre property with nearly another mile of river frontage. We held the property throughout 2023 while working to secure funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to convey it to the U.S. Forest Service, which we accomplished in February 2024.
The renewal of a salmon stream never stops at water’s edge. Panther Creek is also part of the Idaho Birding Trail, where in its riparian areas one might spot Wilson’s warblers, Lewis’s woodpeckers and even western wood-pewees— species that a few years ago may have flown elsewhere to find a healthy home. By conserving a total of 558 acres on this vital Salmon River tributary, we’ve improved river access for birders, hikers, anglers and others, making this a win for all.
In 2024, WRC conserved the second of two properties on Panther Creek (top), a major tributary to the Salmon River. The gains we’ve made will benefit Chinook, a plethora of bird species and wildlife like mountain lion (inset), for which the creek was (mis)named.
TOM AND PAT LEESON
RIVER NAME STATE
Selway River, Idaho
Preserving the Integrity of a Great Wild and Scenic River
Even in a state whose natural identity and renown have been largely—and literally—shaped by some of the greatest wild rivers of the West, Idaho’s Selway River stands out. From its origins high in the Bitterroot Mountains, the Selway plunges, rolls and glides westward for 93 miles, much of that through the 1.8 million-acre Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Winding out of the wilderness, the Selway meets the Lochsa River, where they combine to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. One of the original eight rivers designated under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, the Selway is a true wild river, a haven for Chinook salmon, westslope cutthroat, bull trout and summer steelhead. The corridor is home to bald eagles, Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep, Canada lynx and grizzly bears. Underscoring just how pristine the Selway is, the U.S. Forest Service grants only one rafting permit per day.
In the Selway’s home stretch through the Nez PerceClearwater National Forests, a small number of private inholdings remain unprotected. In 2022, WRC purchased one of the most significant: the 152-acre Selway River Ranch. With its natural meadow habitat bordering nearly a mile of the Selway’s western bank, the ranch could have been developed into four homesites, but our goal is to conserve the parcel by conveying it to the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests for permanent protection. Throughout 2023 and 2024, we worked to secure
funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to transfer the property to the U.S. Forest Service in 2025.
WRC’s conservation of Selway River Ranch—which also includes about three-quarters of a mile of a small tributary called Elk City Creek—will help maintain the integrity of the Wild and Scenic Selway River corridor, and a viewshed enjoyed by boaters, anglers, hikers and others. WRC is proud to join in the legacy of conservation that has helped keep the Selway River and its treasures intact.
The Selway River (top) is one of the West’s most intact wild rivers and a haven for wildlife like grizzly bear (inset), Rocky Mountain elk, bighorn sheep and Canada lynx.
ELLEN
BERNSTEIN
FY
2024 R EVENUE
2024 EXPENSES
EXPENSES FY 2021-2024
FY 2024 Financials
Western Rivers Conservancy delivers tangible, lasting conservation results by buying land along rivers and transferring it to long-term stewards. The time it takes to conserve a property, from purchase to conveyance, is often measured in years. As a result, contributions supporting the acquisition of any particular property and the expenses associated with its transfer to a conservation steward often occur in different fiscal years. This can result in significant swings in revenues and expenses from one fiscal year to another. As of the end of Fiscal Year 2024, WRC was holding 13 properties, as well as earnest money and options, valued at a combined $46.5 million. These conservation lands will be transferred in future fiscal years. While capital contributions fund the purchase of land, every year we raise our operating budget through support from individuals, foundations and other revenue sources. These annual contributions fund the work done by 22 staff members around the West, as well as the direct costs associated with prospecting for new conservation properties; stewarding properties we hold; and coordinating with our stewardship partners to guarantee lasting protection.
Western Rivers Conservancy’s financial statements can be found on our website at westernrivers.org/about/financials.
b oa R d of d i R ecto R s
Carter MacNichol, CHAIR
PORTLAND, OR
Eric Adema, VICE CHAIR SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Bill Brown SEATTLE, WA
Allen Damon NASHVILLE, TN
Ken Grossman CHICO, CA
Rich Hasslacher MILL VALLEY, CA
Lynn Loacker PORTLAND, OR
“We love experiencing the wonderful rivers of the West. What amazes us is how many of these streams have been enhanced by Western Rivers Conservancy’s efforts. Our continuous support of WRC ensures that future anglers, river runners and nature enthusiasts will be able to enjoy these waters for all their greatness.”
–Julie and Heggie Wilson
Nan McKay SEATTLE, WA
Jim Smith DENVER, CO
Liam Thornton PARK CITY, UT
Bruce Williams PARADISE VALLEY, AZ
Tim Wood
LAKE OSWEGO, OR
Denise Wulfekuhle SEATTLE, WA
di R ecto R s eme R iti
Robert Anderson
Sue Doroff
Betsy Jewett
Henry Little
Peter Moyle
Cleve Pinnix
Jon Roush
Darcy Saiget
Phillip Wallin
Jack Williams
Norbert Wellman
bay a R ea adviso Ry committee
Eric Adema
Chris Brand
Tom Counts
Kyle Dowman
Sam Evers
Rich Hasslacher
Zach Patton
Elizabeth Setsuko Raffin
George Revel
Lisa Yao
s taff
Nelson Mathews, PRESIDENT
Alex Barton, PROJECT MANAGER
Dechen Bartso, PARALEGAL
Ellen Bernstein, OPERATIONS MANAGER
Jake Campbell, DONOR RELATIONS OFFICER
Peter Colby, CALIFORNIA PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Jim Cox, DIRECTOR OF DONOR RELATIONS
Susanna Danner, CALIFORNIA PROJECT MANAGER
Elijah Dwoskin, ASSOCIATE PROJECT MANAGER
Jeannette Faber, FINANCE & HR SPECIALIST
Juliette Harding, DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Elise Herron, DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST
Jessica Inwood, WASHINGTON STATE PROJECT MANAGER
Josh Kling, CONSERVATION DIRECTOR
Allen Law, INTERIOR WEST PROJECT MANAGER
Mik McKee, STEWARDHIP DIRECTOR
Natalie Mottley, SENIOR DONOR RELATIONS OFFICER
Danny Palmerlee, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Brian Smith, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST
Anne Tattam, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF FOUNDATION RELATIONS
Julie Turrini, CORPORATE COUNSEL
Heidi Wilcox, DIRECTOR OF FOUNDATION & CORPORATE RELATIONS
Program Partners
3Degrees
Admiral Malting
Alpine County, CA
American Whitewater
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Bend Park and Recreation District
Blue Mountain Land Trust
Bonneville Power Administration
Bureau of Land Management
CAL FIRE
CalWild
California Coastal Conservancy
California Council of Land Trusts
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
California Natural Resources Agency
California Trout
California Wildlife Conservation Board
City of Ashland
The Climate Trust
Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts
Colorado Open Lands
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Colorado State Land Board
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
The Conservation Alliance
Conservation Northwest
Deschutes Land Trust
Deschutes River Conservancy
Esselen Tribe of Monterey County
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
Friends of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
Friends of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
Forest Investment Associates
Foster Garvey
Gilliam County Soil and Water Conservation District
Gilliam County Weedmaster
GJ Livestock
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Green Diamond Resource Company
Great Outdoors Colorado
Great Western Malting Company
Hancock Timber Resource
Hood River Valley Residents Committee
Hood River Watershed Group
Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Idaho Department of Water Resources
Idaho Rivers United
Idaho Water Resources Board
Kashia Band of Pomo Indians
Keep it Colorado
Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation
Klamath Bird Observatory
Kittitas County, WA
Land Trust Alliance
Law of the Rockies
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Natural Resources Conservation Service
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
National Wildlife Refuge Association
Natural Resource Results
Nevada Department of Wildlife
Nevada Division of Environmental Protection
Nevada Division of State Lands
Nevada State Parks
Native Fish Society
The Nez Perce Tribe
NOAA Fisheries
Okanogan Conservation District
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Department of State Lands
Oregon Department of Forestry
Oregon Desert Land Trust
Oregon Hunters Association
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Oregon State University
Oregon State Weed Board
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
Oregon Youth Conservation Corps
"Western Rivers Conservancy is an opportunity to give back, in a very direct and meaningful way, to the rivers that provide so much for us. Supporting conservation and public lands ensures that the rivers we love will be there for our kids, and future generations, to appreciate as well.”
–Sam and Kat Evers
PacifiCorp
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Pacific Northwest Trail Association
Pacific County Visitors Bureau
pFriem Family Brewers
Pit River Tribe
Portland General Electric
Red’s Fly Shop
Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust
River Partners
Rogue River Watershed Council
Salmon-Safe
Sherman County Soil and Water Conservation District
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Sierra Nevada Conservancy
Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition
Tide SW Foundation
Trinity River Restoration Program
Trout Unlimited
Tübatulabals of Kern Valley
Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Forest Service
Washington Association of Land Trusts
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Washington Department of Ecology
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Washington State Parks
Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office
Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board
Weyerhaeuser
Wyss Foundation
Yakama Nation
Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board
Yurok Tribe
Make Wild Rivers Your Legacy
Including Western Rivers Conservancy as a beneficiary in your will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy is a powerful and tangible way to make an impact on the great rivers of the West for generations to come.
To learn more about making a legacy gift to WRC, or inform us that you have included WRC in your estate plans, please give us a call at 503-241-0151 or visit us online.